The Berkeley Beacon

Friday, August 18, 2017

The venture is called Emerson Literacy Education and Empowerment Project (eLEEP), and it was founded by Cooke-Jackson and Paul Mihailidis, an associate marketing communication professor, six years ago.

Snaking through crowds of patrons, carrying heavy buckets of ice, and trying not to slip on spilt vodka cranberries made up a typical shift at the now-closed Stage Nightclub for Dalton Kearney, a barback. His roommate, Christopher Piettro, stood outside at the door.

Mariana Tinoco Rivera said she always wanted to start a magazine, or has at least for the past five years. Now, as the first writing, literature, and publishing student in the Emerson Launch program, she has.

I was 12 when I took my first “nake.” I donned my finest Limited Too bra that made my cleavage sit just right. I stood in my bathroom mirror with my shoulders arched back, my foot beveled inward, my free hand on my waist and the other in the center of my stomach, making my budding B cups the focal point of my brand new Nokia flip phone.

Willa Segar-Reid grew up with two moms in a house of all women who were accepting of their identification of gender nonconforming. When they came to Emerson, they said they sought the same environment, and it was finally achieved this year in the form of a gender neutral suite.

Gilbert said she focused her final master's project on interviewing women about their association with their voice. Gilbert said she’s collaborating with students in the visual and media arts department to turn her research into a documentary.

My friend Jacob Charton is a self-proclaimed kale enthusiast. Four or five times a week, the 20- year-old said he substitutes smoothies made with the leafy vegetable for meals. He bakes it into chips for snacks and munches on it in raw salads for lunch. He also owns and proudly wears a T-shirt with the word printed across the chest because he loves it that much.

A little less than a year ago, Ellen Rothfuss didn’t think she could run two miles. As every new marker went from impossible to conquered, this motivation came to her as an opportunity to race for fellow women.